Bloody Valentine
by Juuriami
Summary: After all that happened around Christmas, the Badicas massacre and Masons death, St Vladmir's Student Event Committee thought to lighten the mood by arranging a costume party at Valentines day. Will this help Rose convincing Dimitri that they have a future together and who are the mysterious figures lurking around at the party? Stay tuned as one Bloody Valentine is coming up!
1. Chapter 1

_A/N:_

_Hi, the author here!_

_So, as those of you who made my story one of your favourites (thank you very much for that!), I haven't updated in a really, REALLY, long time. I'm sorry for that. I have no better excuse than – my life came in the way. But, now I'm back and I have a few new chapters already on the way so I hope I will do better this time around._

_As you might have noticed I changed the name of my story. This because it couldn't really be a Halloween story (which was my first thought) if I still wanted to fit it into the real VA story timeline. So I changed the setting a bit. It will still be the same story though, no worries ;) I also did some small changes to the two chapters that I did publish so if you want to be up to date I suggest that you re-read those._

_Other than that I don't have much to say except that I would really like to have comments on my story, both on the content and language. Since English is not my first language it can be hard to see when I do grammatical errors and such. So please tell me if you see any! Well, read and enjoy!_

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**Bloody Valentine - Chapter 1**

"I can't believe it!" I exclaimed. "The only ones left in my size are 'Chubby Pumpkin' or 'Fluffy Rabbit'!"

Lissa laughed out loud, not bothering to hide her fangs with just the two of us there. I gave her an angry look. _Sorry_, she said through the bond and smiled kindly. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." I had gone through all the piles of costumes on the table at least twice.

Next weekend was Valentines Day and the students on the Student Event Committee were arranging some festivities to lighten the mood after everything that had happened lately. It had been a month since Mason's death and my life had almost begun to feel normal – as normal as it would ever be after seeing your best friend get killed – again. I'd fallen right back into track with school and extra training sessions with Dimitri.

We hadn't really talked about _us_ since the day of my molnija ceremony when he'd told me that he'd turned down Tasha's offer to be her guardian because he was in love with me. Because nothing else in our situation had really changed, the age difference had not disappeared and the problem with us being Lissa's guardians was still there, we'd just gone back to our student-mentor relationship. Trying not to think about each other as more than… friends. How frustrating and heartbreaking it may be to not be able to love Dimitri the way I wanted, it was still nice to know that he at least, loved me back.

"There must be a secret stash somewhere!" Lissa said and looked around the store for someone in the staff. The only employee in sight was an awkward human boy sitting behind the counter. _Score_, I thought, getting him to look through their storage an extra time wouldn't be that hard. I walked up to the counter and leaned against the desk in front of him.

The theme for the night was "Bloody Valentine" – not too surprising for a school full of vampires – and some parts of the school would be turned into a horror house and the night would end with a big costume party. Due to this event, the school had arranged a few guarded trips in to Missoula this weekend. Lissa and I had signed up for Saturday afternoon. The party was this week's biggest news and the word on everyone's lips. Where ever we went people were planning what to wear, how to do their hair and what make up would be most suitable. Dressing up as either a pumpkin or a rabbit was not what I considered suitable.

"Hi." I smiled to the boy and threw my hair over the shoulder with my right hand. Something about my long black hair always got the boys distracted. He swallowed hard and looked like he wanted to disappear.

"He– hey, w–w–what ca-ca-can I d-d-do for y-you?" he stuttered nervously. The colour of his cheeks turning darker for each word. Poor boy. _Go easy on him Rose_, Lissa urged, standing next to me. Compassion for the boy poured through the bond.

I smiled politely to Henry – as his nametag said – and explained the seriousness of the situation. He showed us to the storage room instantly and insisted he'd go through all of the shelves by him self. We managed to convince him it would be a lot faster if we helped him but after fifteen minutes of digging I had to admit my self defeated.

"I guess I'm not going then." I sighed as Henry put the last box back in place. "You'll have to do without me." What was I going to do then? Study?

"That's not fair!" Lissa complained, "Why should you not get to have fun just because this store has a lousy stock? No offence Henry." She nodded to the boy. His face turned, if possible, a little more red.

"I'm not going to this party as a freaking fruit!" I said. Nor a rodent for that matter. Was there even a market for costumes like this? The playboy bunny thing, with the ears and the tail, I could understand. But this? Heavy pink fabric and a lousy fit. It should have been dismissed at the idea-pitching stadium. If I ever met a costume designer, I'd tell him that.

"Maybe I could get you a discount on the bunny outfit." Henry said, out of the blue. "It's an expiring model." No shit.

"That's really nice but–"

"How much?" Lissa interrupted.

"I'm no–" I begun but was interrupted again.

"How much?"

"Maybe twenty-five percent."

Watching from behind I saw Henrys eyes went blank and I felt a tingle of magic through the bond. She was using compulsion on him. "How much did you say?" she asked in a sweet voice.

"Thirty percent." Henry said but it sounded like a question.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear."

"Fifty?" He asked, voice uncertain.

"It's a deal!" She said and released him from the compulsion. He blinked his eyes like waking up from sleep and frowned like he didn't understand what had just happened. But looking at Lissa's angelic smiling face seemed to make him a little more comfortable and he walked us out to the counter again. The discount made the costume end up costing about 40 dollars. Lissa insisted she'd pay for it and as we walked out the store, after saying goodbye to Henry, she tossed it over.

"So, will you please, please, go to the party now?"

How could I say no now? She'd bought me the damned costume. "I will." I said, defeated. She hugged me sideways and I could feel her smugness through the bond.

The last hour before riding our charted bus back to school, we spent at a café, discussing how to make the most out of what we'd bought. I didn't have much to think through though. The costume would cover everything except my face and therefore left very little room for editing. Maybe I could spray it with some fake blood? If nothing else, it would at least hide some of that awful fluffy fabric.

Back home we met up with Christian and walked to the cafeteria for dinner. At the first mention of costumes he'd backed out of his proposal to go with us and said something about having to study. We'd figured he was just scared we'd make him try on all the awful costumes. And with reason.

"So when will you find a costume then?" I asked as we sat at our usual table in the left corner of the room.

"I wont." He shrugged, "I don't understand why people would put so much money on clothes and stuff they will only wear once. Seems like waste to me."

"Christian – ever the optimist." A familiar voice said. I turned around. Standing behind my chair was Adrian, looking as dandy as ever. Smelling faintly of cigarettes he smiled down at me.

"Hello little dhampir. Lissa, pessimistic-boy." He nodded to the others. "So you went to Missoula this afternoon to shop for costumes I hear?"

"Yes," I said, "Why didn't you come? Did you have something _important_ to do as well? Like Gloomy over there." Christian rolled his eyes and went to fetch some water. Adrian sat down and took a French Fry of my plate; I didn't bother to tell him I wasn't finished.

He smiled vacantly. "I actually had something important to do. It was a matter of life and death." He leaned back on his chair, yawning. Knowing him, he probably slept all day, woken up ten minutes ago, taken a cigarette and walked here. That was one of the many weird things about Adrian. No one ever knew where he was and then suddenly, out of no where, he'd come strolling down the hall. Always a witty comment in hand. "But I'll come to the party." He smiled smugly.

"And what will you go as?" Lissa asked, taking the glass of water that Christian held out for her.

"I've bought some brown lenses." He said, as though that said everything.

"And?" Christian scoffed.

"And there is this new book, called Twilight… something. It's about vampires and the male leading character is this _gorgeous_ guy with brown eyes. So I gathered I put the lenses in and go as my self." He shrugged, taking another fry.

A deep silent followed.

The worst thing about this was that it was actually going to work. I'd heard a lot of the girls talk about the book and since Adrian was hot property already, this would certainly just make him even more popular. I shook my head in disgust. "There is something extremely wrong with you."

"I love you to, Rose. But enough about me." Like he could ever get that? "What are you ladies dressing up as?"

I felt a chill run down my spine. I'd managed to run by the dorm to put away my bag before going to the cafeteria, a good call I realized now. After this Saturday my reputation would be damaged forever, but as it was I would at least be able to enjoy this week of being old bad ass Rose.

"I'm not saying, Lissa?" I urged.

She smiled knowingly. "I'm going as a mermaid." After trying on and turning down a handful of really great costumes – she hadn't even bothered to try on the rabbit suit – she'd decided to go with a fish-tale and seashell bra. But it was still better than mine though.

"Isn't the costumes suppose to be scary?" Christian asked.

"The poster just said that it was a costume party," Lissa shrugged, "It didn't say anything about it having to be scary."

The event committee had covered the walls of the school buildings and the cafeteria with posters announcing when and where the horror-night would start. In the right corner of the poster the president of the Student Event Committee posed as a bloody bride with the veil as a snare around her neck. But Lissa was right; it had said nothing about the costumes more than that we had to wear one.

"And the 'Bloody Valentine'-theme didn't do it for you?" He teased. Lissa put out her tongue and he kissed her on the forehead. Adrian made a disgusted sound and Christian glared at him. The loving couple excused them selves, probably to get some alone time before curfew. I took a mental note to stay out of Lissa's head until morning.

Adrian followed me to the dormitory. I'd left my jacket with the bag and winter was on the decline. It was dry and cold outside and the sky had already darkened. As we chatted small clouds spread in the air front of us. He insisted on lending me his coat several times but I declined his offer until I begun to chatter my teeth and he practically threw it on me.

"Stop being so difficult." He said, annoyed.

"I'm not being difficult."

"No?" he eyed me sideways. He had a point. Sighing I agreed. "Okay, maybe a little."

"Good girl." I made a face and he laughed, patting my head. And that was one of the things I liked about Adrian. He was never the one to hold grudges. He could be unreasonable and totally self absorbed at times but he was a nice person in general. And actually really funny. Not that I'd ever till him that though. I'd never hear the end of it.

As we reached the dormitory I handed him back the coat and thanked him for the loan before turning for the door.

"Don't I at least get a hug for freezing my butt of for you?" he said, playing offended.

"You offered!" I complained but reached up to hug him. He put his arms around me and pressed me closely to him. His shirt smelled of cigarettes, hair conditioner and perfume. It was a warm and cosy scent that made think of summer nights, sitting around a bonfire and listening to soft guitar playing. He put his mouth close to my ear and said in a low voice.

"And I would do it anytime for you, little dhampir."


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: The author here! I hope this new updates doesn't make the old readers confused. I'll add the third (all new!) chapter tonight as well. And if you feel like it, I'd like to get comments on what you think about the characters. Have I made them credible? Do you get the right feeling from the dialogue?_

_I'm sorry this chapter is so short it just felt right to stop there. The next one is a bit longer!_

_Read and enjoy!_

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**Bloody Valentine - Chapter 2**

The knowledge of the ridicule I was putting my self up for by going as the Ester bunny to Saturday's party was making me nervous all week. The lump in my stomach grew each day. When Dimitri asked me about it during Mondays' training I had no good answer ready and was taken of guard.

"So," he said, while blocking one of my neatly aimed punches, "did you get what you wanted out of yesterday's trip?"

"Trip?" I asked, yanking my knee into his ribcage. It was a good hit but he kept his posture and didn't even blink. The bastard.

"You and Lissa were going to Missoula to shop for costumes? You talked about it all Friday."

The mention of costumes made my stomach turn up side down and I lost my focus for one tenth of a second. That tenth made all the difference as Dimitri made his move. I saw his foot before it hit but didn't have time to react. It made contact and I was sent flying. I landed a few feet away from where I had been standing but Dimitri was beside me in an instant.

"Rose!" he grasped my face, "I'm so sorry! What happened?"

My left ear was ringing and tried to sit up but he pushed me back down again. "Don't move!" his voice was on the edge of going frantic. "That was quite a kick. I have to check on you first!"

"Now you're just bragging."

He remained serious but I saw a flickering at the corner of his mouth as he studied where he'd hit my jaw. I felt my stomach flutter once more but for a totally different reason. With hair damp from sweating and a black t-shirt that clang to his chest like a second skin he looked as dreamy as ever. A sudden pang of sadness overtook me. Would we ever make it work?

It was all such a waste. If he hadn't actually loved me back I would just have gotten over it, or wanted to try at least. Sure, it would have taken me some time, especially if we'd continue training together like this, but I would have done it sooner or later. And I could have given Adrian a real chance. I didn't know if he was serious or just playing around half of the time but I would at least have had the intention of finding out. Now I was just trying to ignore something that didn't want to be ignored.

As Dimitri watched me intently, looking for any real damage, his eyes gave him away. The concern I saw told me that he had a hard time ignoring his feelings as well. He loved me as much as I loved him but our circumstances made it impossible for him to pursuit that love. I, on the other hand, was certain that we could make it somehow.

As if reading my thoughts his façade was put on once more and he leaned away from me. All the earlier emotions gone from his face. "There doesn't seem to be any serious damage, just some bruising. But maybe we should call it a day anyway?"

"Just some bruising?" I sat up. "There is a party four days from now and you planted your whole foot in my face. If I have a black eye tomorrow you better run, comrade."

"It's not my fault you have a lousy guard." He shrugged. "The theme is _Bloody_ Valentine, you're supposed to look scary. A blue eye will only emphasize that."

"You don't even know what I'm dressing up as." I said but regretted the words as soon as they came out.

"What are you dressing up as?" he asked.

I felt the blood drain from my face. "Nothing."

"Nothing, really?" he snickered.

"Mhm."

He eyed me incredulously.

"I won't tell you."

"Yeah?" he smiled, a scheming look crossing his face. "What if I do this?" He put both of his hands on my stomach and begun tickling me like I was a little child. I screamed and struggled to get free but he was to strong. He had a good grip on me and the only thing I managed to do was to knock him to the floor and roll on top of him. Screaming with laugher all the while. But then the tickling stopped and I opened my eyes.

Our faces were just inches apart. His breathing was heavy from the struggle – or my weight – and I felt it brush against my face. We locked eyes for just a second before he jolted upright, making me roll hard on to the floor. He got to his feet quicker than I'd ever seen and headed for the door.

"Training is over, see you tomorrow!" he called over his shoulder as he walked out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: The author here! That greeting is probably kind of unnecessary 'cause who else would it be? But I like it. Makes me feel important, or something. And who doesn't need an ego-boost every once in a while? ;)_

_Okay, back to the important stuff – the story. So, this is a totally new chapter! (Waaaaah!) If you have any I'd really like to get your opinions on it, same as before, do you think I've captured the characters all right? And also, is the grammar okay?_

_The two girls in the bathroom doesn't come from the real story, their mine (they doesn't have any names though) and the friends their talking about as well. If their names matches some moroi mentioned in the real story that is just a coincidence and doesn't have any meaning what so ever._

_Um.. I think that's it. Read and enjoy!_

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**Bloody Valentine - Chapter 3**

"So, are we going or not?" Lissa asked impatiently as she stood waiting for me by the door.

I exhaled deeply. "I guess so." My life was never going to be the same again. The respect I'd earned through the years. My reputation of being one of the fiercest novices. My good looks. It would all be gone – only temporarily when referring to the latter though – in a matter of minutes.

The two of us had spent all afternoon lounging in Lissa's dorm, talking and getting ready for tonight. I'd helped her braiding her hair, deciphering what was the out side and what was the inside of her seashell bra and gluing some "scales" that had come off onto the costume. She'd helped me… well, zipping up. It had been nice to be just the two of us, something that rarely happened now that she was seeing Christian.

And I, apparently, was seeing Adrian.

At least that was what people had told me all day. It had begun in the girls' restroom after lunch. Two moroi juniors were standing at the sinks when I walked in. I smiled at them and as I closed the booth-door I heard them whispering.

"That was her, right?"

"Yeah, I think so!"

"Urgh… She's so lucky! I wish I had a boyfriend like that."

Boyfriend? They must have gotten me mixed up with somebody else. I had no boyfriend.

Unless. _Unless Dimitri had changed his mind about us? Maybe he'd find a way for us to be together?_ He would really be a boyfriend to wish for.

No. I chastised myself for even thinking the thought. That would never happen. And if, by some miracle, it would happen, I doubted these girls would find out before me. They had to be referring to someone else.

"I wonder what her mother will say."

"Yeah. She seems a little harsh, Guardian Hathaway."

_Okay, so maybe it is me they're talking about_, I thought, not able to bring to mind any other student whose last name was Hathaway and whom had a mother that was a guardian.

"And what will his parents say? I'm sure the Ivashkov's aren't too happy that their son is dating a dhampir. I mean, he's royal an all."

Ivashkov. That could only mean one thing.

Adrian.

But why would anyone think that I was dating Adrian? Sure he was flirtatious and made it no secret that he was interested in me but I'd never encouraged him. And he was one of the few who knew about me and Dimitri.

We hung out sometimes but almost always in the company of others and we'd never done anything that would make someone suspect that we were together. Or had we? I recalled him walking me to the dorm the other night. I'd worn his coat and we'd hugged in front of the door. _Crap_. Rumours were built on facts much more insignificant than that around here everyday.

"Yeah… I don't think my parents would agree if I dated a novice. Though some of them are really cute. Like that guy… Eddie. Eddie Ca– something."

"Castle." Her friend said and I felt a smug smile reach my lips. I couldn't wait to see Eddies blushing face when I told him that he had an admirer. "I heard that Charlene and Victoria asked Adrian to sit with them at breakfast this morning," she continued, "and that he turned them down and said that he couldn't eat with them since his girlfriend would be upset. 'Rose has a really bad temper, especially early in the morning, and she doesn't like that I talk to other girls. So for your safety I have to decline.' he'd said."

I heard the restroom door open as they made their way out. "Talk about obsessive girlfriend!" the other girl laughed.

"I'm not his girlfriend!" I cried out and I swung the booth door open with a loud bang. But the room was empty. In the corner of my eye I saw the corridor door shut behind the girls and no one was there to hear my contradiction. "And I'm not obsessive!"

I left and went straight to Adrian's dorm. Only a few yards from the buildings entrance I caught sight of Jesse Zeklos and Ralf Sarkozy. There wasn't much that those two idiots could say these days that wouldn't tick me off, so I went for ignoring them. I walked past and thought I'd managed until I heard Jesse's voice from behind me.

"Why in such a rush Rose? Of to see your boyfriend?" He said the word boyfriend like it was some sort of disease. I felt irritation build up inside me. _Ignore them Rose_, I said to my self.

"You know he's got quite the reputation." Jesse continued. "I heard he's been bed hopping more than most in his time."

I had reached the entrance steps by now. Just a few meters and they would be gone.

"But as the rumour has it, so have you. It's a perfect fit." Ralf laughed behind me.

That was it. In a matter of seconds I had sprinted back to where the moroi boys were standing and seized Ralf by the collar. Despite being kind of bulky for a moroi, he was still taller than me and I dragged his face down to mine and growled.

"Did you say something?"

The moroi boy looked surprised at first but quickly collected him self, giving me an arrogant smile. Before he could answer a familiar voice called from behind me.

"Rose." Dimitri said in a disapproving tone. "What's going on here?"

I kept staring at Ralf and didn't say anything. In the corner of my eye I saw Jesse squirm as Dimitri walked up to us. I'm sure he was still a little afraid of him after the incident in one of the empty lounges in October.

"It's fine Guardian Belikov, "Ralf said, "we're just telling Rose that we like her choice of boyfriend." I saw a shift in Dimitri, too small for Ralf or Jesse to notice but visible for anyone that had studied him as much as I had. I could also guess what it meant, he was worried it was him they where referring to. "She and Adrian Ivashkov are a perfect fit."

Again I saw a shift in Dimitri but this one was noticeable to everyone else as well. Jesse turned nervously to his friend.

"Come on Ralf," he urged, "let's go."

"I think that is a good idea." Dimitri agreed, eyes on Ralf.

"Whatever." He shrugged and tried to back away but I still held his shirt in a firm grip.

"Rose." Dimitri said. "Let go."

I glared at Ralf for another moment and then released him with a push that made him stagger backwards. For a second it looked like he wanted to take me up on the shoving but seeing Dimitri's tall figure behind me seemed to make him think better of it and he turned around and stalked of, Jesse trailing his steps.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N:_

_The author here!_

_This chapter begins right where chapter 3 ends.. I don't really have much else to say about this chapter, other than **I'm sorry** to all of you who had something else in mind when thinking about what Stan, or Guardian Alto, looks like. I've just pictured him like a middle aged man in my head. And I don't really remember if Richelle ever describes him in detail in any of the books. I did some research but couldn't find any description.. So he ended up with a receding hair line. Poor Stan._

_As always, feel free to comment (I would really like to get some reviews so I can improve my writing :) ) and enjoy!_

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**Bloody Valentine - Chapter 4**

We stood in silence a few moments before Dimitri sighed.

"Will you tell me what's happening or do I have to wait and overhear some of your classmates talk about it in an hour?"

After how the training session ended at Saturday he'd just gone back to pretending that we weren't more than just mentor and student, like nothing happened, and my hopes for us had faltered even more. I could very well be Adrian's girlfriend, it wouldn't change anything between me and Dimtri. I felt irritated with both of them.

"Apparently Adrian is going around telling people that I'm his girlfriend."

"Why would he do that?" Dimtri asked, clearly annoyed. If I hadn't been so worked up my self I might have taken pleasure in him being annoyed with Adrian calling me his girlfriend. As it was I only got irritated with his attitude and felt personally attacked. I lifted my hands to the air, exasperated.

"How would I know?" It wasn't my fault, I couldn't read Adrians mind! "He does whatever he wants and never includes anyone in his scheming. Either he has some bigger plan laid out or he just felt like it. I don't know."

"He'd do this just because 'he felt like it'?"

I shrugged. He looked thoughtful and annoyed, his eyebrows coming together in the middle. "Well," I begun in a hard voice, "if there wasn't something else you'd like to interrogate me about, I'd like to find my 'boyfriend' and tell him a thing or two."

I turned around and started walking towards Adrian's building but Dimitri caught my wrist before I'd reached the steps.

"Rose," He said, "are you mad at me?"

He spun me around so that I couldn't look away from him. His deep brown eyes bore in to mine and I felt my heart ache. Would he, could he, ever be mine? The earlier annoyance had disappeared from his features and the only emotion left was one of hurt. He thought that I was mad at him, when in reality I wasn't mad at him at all. I wasn't really mad at Adrian for calling me his girlfriend either. I was mad at the fact that I had two great guys that wanted me but I couldn't be with either of them.

Dimitri because we were to far apart in age – even though I didn't consider that an issue – and one day, not long from now, we were both supposed to be Lissa's guardians, and we had to be able to focus on her, only her. And the reason I couldn't be with Adrian was because I was in love with Dimitri.

Looking at his worried face, the anger dissolved, leaving me feeling drained. "No," I said and smiled softly, "I'm not mad at you. I'm not even mad at Adrian. I just got worked up on the way here, and running into Jesse and Ralf didn't exactly help."

"I can't imagine those two ever being of help to anybody." Lissa said, having walked up behind me without either me or Dimitri noticing. We both jumped at the sound of her voice and he quickly dropped his hold on my wrist.

Lissa laughed, "And you two are supposed to be my guardians. I feel real safe, you guys."

"Princess Dragomir." Dimitri said and made a small bow with his head.

"Please, Dimitri. How many times do I have to ask you not to call med that?" Lissa said, raising her eyebrows.

"A few more I think, Princess Dragomir."

Lissa and I both rolled our eyes. "Isn't there any place you need to be, Stiffy?" I asked and punched him on the arm. He met my eyes and I saw a flickering at the corner of his mouth.

"Yes, there is. See you later… Softy."

And with that he turned around and walked away. Leaving me staring wide mouthed after him. Had he actually teased me? In front Lissa? That had never happened before. He could tease me sometimes when we were alone, but never in front of other people. I didn't know what to make of it. Did it mean that he'd changed his mind?

"That was… cute." Lissa said, amused, and I could feel her joy for me radiating through the bond. "I've never seen him drop his facade like that before. I have to admit it Rose. I can definitely see why you like him so much."

After Mason's death I'd been too sad and tired to keep hiding my feelings for Dimitri from Lissa. It hurt me that I hadn't had the time to tell Mason how I really felt about him. That he had died with my lie about how we could be together in his heart. I often wondered if maybe he wouldn't have gone to Spokane if I'd told him the truth form the beginning. Maybe then he wouldn't have felt the need to prove him self to me, going after strigoi when he wasn't ready. Experiencing death so close for the second time in my life had made me realize I couldn't continue to keep the people I cared most about at an arms length anymore. Life was too short. So I'd told Lissa. But her response had not been what I'd expected.

The day before my _molnija_ ceremony we'd been in her room and I'd told her everything, from the first time I'd realized I was interested till the night with the lust charm, while she'd been sitting quiet across from me on her bed.

"So now you know." I said in a small voice, fiddling with the hem of my jeans.

"And I win!" she cried and rose from the bed.

I stared at her, eyes wide and my jaw dropping to the floor. What the hell? "I mean. I'm a bit mad that you didn't tell me right away of course, "she said and gave me a stern look, "but me and Christian took a bet on weather you two was in love or not. And I won!"

"You took a bet?" I couldn't believe what she was saying. I'd expected her to be really upset. Telling me how wrong it was for us to love each other. How I had been a terrible friend not telling her. Maybe even yell. And here she was, happy that she'd won a bet. I almost felt… played. Like I was on the Candid Camera and soon some guy with a microphone would crawl out from underneath the bed screaming 'We g_ot you!'_.

"Rose," she sat on the bed again and put her hand on mine, "you may think that you've been sneaky, not showing me your true feelings but I've known for quite some time. I might not be able to see auras the way Adrian can but I have a better understanding of other people's feelings than most."

"Like female intuition? We all got that Liss, even me."

She laughed, "It's more than that. It's hard to explain but it's like I can hear people's feelings. Like they say them out loud."

"Like, 'now I'm happy' or 'now I'm sad'?" I asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. And know you're saying 'I'm confused.'"

"I am confused!" I shook my head. "I thought you would be mad at me. Mad for me not telling you and mad that I'm in love with someone it's wrong for me to be in love with."

"Who said that?" Now it was her time to be confused. "Why would it be wrong for you to be in love with Dimitri?"

I looked at her like she was mental. "Well, first of all, he's my mentor. It's wrong. It's like, like I would fall in love with… Stan." I said and made a face.

"That is so not the same thing!" she said. "And Guardian Alto is not nearly as good looking as Dimitri."

"They're not even in the same league." I said as I thought about Stan and Dimitri standing next to each other. The first one shorter, older, bulky built and with a receding hairline and the second, taller, younger with a slender body and long thick hair that I knew many girls who would die for. "Not the same league. But that is not the point. We are both supposed to be your guardians, we have to be able to protect you, not be all lovey-dovey and fuck up when a strigoi attacks."

"You wouldn't do that!" she said and I could feel through the bond how sad she became at the thought that we hadn't acted on our love for her sake. "I know you wouldn't. You're the most devoted people there is. I never feel as safe as when I am with either of you. You would figure it somehow! I know it!"

I could feel through the bond that she really meant it. "That's really sweet Liss," I said and squeezed her hand, "but I'm not so sure. I love you to death, you know that, but I can't tell you with a hundred percent certainty that if two strigoi captured one of you each, ready to break your necks, that I'd go for you first. And as long as I feel that way, Dimitri and I can't both be your guardians. And we're going to be. So," I said and smiled sadly, "I have to no feel that way."

"But, but that is horrible!" she said and rose again, I could feel anger seeping from her. "It's so wrong! Why shouldn't you be able to be with the man you love, just because I need to have two guardians? It's completely wrong. I won't tolerate it."

"There isn't much you can do. It isn't really up to you to decide how many guardians you'll have."

"But at least I can choose if I want a certain person or not. No one will make me have a guardian that I do not want. I can just tell them I'm not comfortable with Dimitri, and that I want somebody else."

"No." I stood up and locked eyes with her´, "Because he is the best one out there. And with strigoi trying to take out all royals, especially the small families, you need the best. And if you said you didn't want him, he would only be sent to guard some royal somewhere else and we wouldn't be able to be together anyway. So it's no point. But thanks anyway."

She looked at me for a few seconds as my words sank in and I could feel her anger dissolving through the bond. She knew I made sense. But she wasn't ready to give in just yet.

"We'll find a way." she said and kissed my forehead. "We'll find a way for you to get that gorgeous Russian."

I rolled my eyes, "And on top of everything, he is seven years older than me."

"That's not wrong," she winked, "that's down _right_ sexy."


End file.
